Vikings Basketball Roundup

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Ladies show second half staminaAt this point, the lady Vikings have officially turned a weakness into a strength. The girls showed second-half stamina to power through a 52-21 victory against Incline in front of a home crowd Friday. “The second half has been an emphasis for our girls this year and tonight it showed,” coach Mike Neiger said. “They came out of the break and dictated the action and got some key steals in the third period to seal the win.”After giving up the first five points, the Vikings flipped a switch and took over. They led 21-15 at halftime, and outscoring Incline 31-6 in the second half.“We knew they had a couple a scoring threats, and our focus was to limit their open looks,” Mike Neiger said. Alisa Caro has emerged as a solid defender for the Vikings, and Friday was no exception. Her defensive performance coming off the bench provided the spark that the Vikings needed. Brooke King led another balanced scoring attack with 10 points, while Mel Grady turned in eight. Bailey David turned in a great all-around game with seven points, six rebounds and six assists. Hannah Neiger added seven points and eight rebounds. Ally King had six points and six boards. Alisa Caro had three points and six assists.The girls are 7-9 overall and 3-1 in league.Boys battle back for winWhen the fourth quarter rolled around, the Vikings luckily had plenty in the tank. It took a 23-14 fourth-quarter performance to squeak by a 60-57 win against Incline at home Friday. The game looked like a lock, as the boys jumped out to a 7-0 lead, and the Vikings realized Incline’s strongest player, Orin Porter, was ineligible. But the rest of the Incline team had something to say about that. “My experience has always been that most teams step up in this situation and Incline definitely did,” coach Chris Proctor said. Incline scored 11 straight, and the Vikings limped into half trailing 27-24.Proctor tried to mix things up with a different group in the third quarter, but it only seemed to widen Incline’s lead. “Not one of my better calls as I continued to be outcoached by Coach Kelly, and we fell behind by 13,” Proctor said. The Vikings got a final say though.They surged back at the end of the third to cut the deficit to six. They kept chipping and regained the lead with about 2 minutes left. We played the last 10 minutes with six players which is a testament to their heart. “Justin (Espiritu) was a big spark for us, hitting two big 3-pointers in the fourth and forcing four steals from their best ballhandler at half court,” Proctor said. Brandon Cramer shook off a slow first half to lead the Vikings with 17 points. He was a huge threat from the free-throw line, hitting 7 of 8 as the Vikings closed the gap. John Cefalu and Hayden Bronken had their typical strong games that do not always show in the box score. Last year, Incline beat South Tahoe with a last-second 26-footer. This year, Cefalu was there to block the last chance 3-pointer. Kyante Wilson also shook off a timid first half to put up 9 points in the second.“All in all, the win over Incline was the first time in three years that this team has battled back from a double-digit deficit late in the third quarter to win,” Proctor said. “We are hoping that is a turning point for the struggles we have had with consistent play and individual player confidence.”The boys are 8-8 overall and 2-2 in league.